Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute

The idea of a student-centered farm at Penn State already has inspired dozens of students to become involved in its planning, even though many will graduate before the farm is realized. Julian Subick and Briana Yablonski, two seniors graduating from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, have devoted much of their last year at Penn State to the rigorous farm-planning process, and they don’t regret a single moment.

Sustainability is a priority at Penn State. In the forty-five years since the University began observing Earth Day, much progress has been made toward becoming a community that lives, learns, and leads with an eye to the future.

The Penn State Student Farm Initiative will host a free screening of "Food Chains," a documentary about Florida farm workers, at 6:30 p.m. April 21 in the Paterno Library Foster Auditorium. A panel discussion will follow the screening.

Carol Sanford, author of “The Responsible Business” and “The Responsible Entrepreneur,” will be a featured speaker on April 18 during the Sustainability Institute’s inaugural Reinvention Fund Symposium. Sanford’s April 18 keynote address “Catalyzing Innovation: Local Economies, Entrepreneurship and Education in a Living Systems Paradigm” will be held from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. in Ballrooms CDE of the Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus of Penn State.

The Center for Global Studies at Penn State will host Sean Grattan, visiting assistant professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Gettysburg College, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 9, in 124 Sparks Building on the University Park campus. All students, faculty, colleagues, and friends are welcome to attend.

New, part-time internships for undergraduates are available through Penn State’s Sustainability Institute. The Sustainability Institute is seeking applications for two communications interns, a programmatic intern, and an intern to assist with the Sustainable Communities Collaborative. Applications will be acccepted until Friday, March 13. All internships are paid.

The Reinvention Fund of Penn State’s Sustainability Institute is helping to support the latest venture by the Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication, which intends to conduct a large-scale national survey to gauge public attitudes, beliefs, opinioins and knowledge about sustainability.

Join CentreBike, Penn State’s Sustainability Institute and other cyclists on Feb. 13 by committing to ride on International Winter Bike to Work Day. Students, faculty, staff and members of the community are encouraged to meet fellow cyclists at the Old Main steps at 8 a.m. to enjoy hot coffee and networking.

The Sustainability Institute is seeking public comment on a report that proposes a new community and stakeholder engagement process for setting University-wide goals for sustainability, starting with energy.

In early October, the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) hosted their annual conference in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Nancy Franklin and Ted Alter, both with Penn State's Sustainability Institute, were acknowledged by ACES for their help to better communities by advancing scholarship through collaborations between the community and higher education institutes.

As you are walking around Beaver Stadium next Saturday for the Michigan State game, tailgating and finding your seats, you may notice that Penn State is becoming quite the sustainable state. The University is making some major strides in sustainability through programs for staff, students and the community. We are closing the loop on waste, cleaning up our buildings and our stadium, building greenhouses in Africa, driving the EcoCAR to top honors, cleaning up the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and so much more.

A ride in Penn State’s award-winning EcoCAR and a behind-the-scenes tour of the EcoCAR team’s garage go up for bid Nov. 1 during a silent auction and tailgate coordinated by the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society at Pegula Ice Arena.